When She Proposes to Him

As the editor of Engagement 101 online magazine, Severine Ferrari hears a lot of great proposal stories. Over the past few years, she started to notice that more of those stories featured women as the proposers. These stories inspired Severine to take the plunge and plan her own romantic proposal to long-time boyfriend James. But she went further, creating a new online hub to inspire more women to propose called Propose Too.The Propose Too website features hundreds of stories of women proposing. In some cases, they propose first and in others, they propose back. Severine says Propose Too was created in reaction to the changing dynamics of marital equality. Why she asks, are straight men still expected to be the ones to propose? How can women reciprocate? Why not propose to each other like many same-sex couples do? Why are women the only ones wearing engagement rings? The movement is designed to update a traditional mentality and change the proposal game. "Our female audience continuously expresses to us how frustrated they are to be dependent on the boyfriend deciding the timing of the proposal. I thought that it was time to tip the scales towards women's empowerment in committed straight relationships. I thought I could help our audience find a path towards more equality when it comes to the proposal," Severine says. Many famous women have talked about how they proposed, including Kristen Bell, Britney Spears, Pink, Diane Von Furstenberg, Jennifer Hudson, and Senator Elizabeth Warren. And rom coms featuring women proposing to men are already a thing, with Sandra Bullock proposing in The Proposal and Amy Adams doing the same in Leap Year.There is a long tradition of woman proposing during leap years, particularly on February 29. Supposedly the leap-year proposal tradition is thanks to a deal that St Brigid of Kildare made with St Patrick in the fifth century. The next leap year is 2020 but Severine doesn’t think women in love should have to wait until then to pop the question. What jewelry style should women use for proposing? Severine suggests a pendant and teamed up with jewelry designer Chris Ploof to create her own dog tag proposal pendant featuring a diamond. The bride to be can gift the proposal pendant to her fiancé. She can also initiate the proposal with it. Should you propose too? Whether or not you do it formally, we are always in favor of declarations of love!  

PROPOSE TOO TIPS ON HOW TO PROPOSE TO HIM 

1. Pick a meaningful location
2. Find a romantic idea to propose
3. Ask him to bend the knee
4. Tell him why you want to marry him
5. Give him a ring or proposal pendant
6. Kiss him
7. Take couple selfies